2023 Oxford Film Festival Jury

Aaron Hillis was praised by Brooklyn Magazine as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture" alongside Lena Dunham and Spike Lee. As Cinedigm's Director of Programming, he co-manages the indie discovery platform Fandor (now streaming beyond the mainstream). Aaron’s writing has appeared in The Village Voice, VICE, Variety, Vanity Fair, and other outlets that don’t begin with V…

Nelson Kim wrote and directed the award-winning independent feature film SOMEONE ELSE (2016), which was hailed by the LA Weekly as "a tense, unexpectedly moving psychological study of a man's unraveling," by VCinema as "a nimble and smartly designed independent production... a highly intriguing debut," and by PopMatters as "a movie that ultimately forces you to think on your feet... certain to provoke discussion, and perhaps argument, amongst viewers." His latest short film, THE COMPLAINT, filmed entirely on Zoom during the early months of Covid lockdown, premiered on the website NoBudge.com in 2021. Nelson writes film criticism for Filmmaker Magazine, Hammer To Nail, Senses of Cinema, and other websites, and teaches film at Wagner College on Staten Island, where he co-directs the Film and Media Studies Program. He lives in Brooklyn and on Long Island.

M.J. O'Toole has been writing for Hammer To Nail since early 2021. He is the Digital Marketing Manager for the NYC-based agency 3rd Impression, specializing in social media advertising for independent film. You can check out his portrait and street photography on Instagram at @mj_otoole.

Geoff is an animator, director, writer, producer and actor (who also teaches at CU Boulder). His work includes the feature films MARS, Loves Her Gun and Yakona (as producer), as well as the shorts Monkey vs. Robot, The Day Before and most recently The Phantom 52. These films have played at over 100 festivals including Sundance, SXSW and BFI London. He grew up a cowboy with an interest in physics, and has worked in both construction and the Naval Research Lab before becoming a filmmaker. He adores his cat named FatFace, and still genuinely loves making things.

Geoff is an animator, director, writer, producer and actor (who also teaches at CU Boulder). His work includes the feature films MARS, Loves Her Gun and Yakona (as producer), as well as the shorts Monkey vs. Robot, The Day Before and most recently The Phantom 52. These films have played at over 100 festivals including Sundance, SXSW and BFI London. He grew up a cowboy with an interest in physics, and has worked in both construction and the Naval Research Lab before becoming a filmmaker

Coming Soon

Michelle Emanuel is the Head of Metadata and Digital Initiatives in the University of Mississippi Libraries. At the first Oxford Film Festival in 2003, held at the Gertrude C. Ford Center, she managed the ticket window. After joining the Screening Committee and managing ticket and merchandise sales for OFF 2004, she was promoted to co-director, (which became Operations Director in 2012) mostly focusing on details: managing entries, editing the program, working with grants. After the 2015 festival (no. 12), along with the other volunteer directors, she stepped away from the festival, to allow the organization to take on a full-time, paid director. Much of her time these days is spent co-managing the University's institutional repository, eGrove (https://egrove.olemiss.edu), which has had over 3 million downloads since October 2018.

Kimel is a Memphis native who graduated with a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Memphis and a J.D. & M.B.A. degree from the University of Tennessee. She has two busy little boys, Michael and Kameron, who run her household but compensate her with cuddles when she’s not working.

Sarah Garrahan (she/her) is a documentary producer and editor from San Antonio, Texas (occupied Somi Se’k land). She is based in Los Angeles, CA (occupied Tongva land). She co-produced and was an additional editor on the hybrid documentary The Infiltrators by Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019 and was awarded the NEXT Audience and Innovator Awards. She edited the Emmy-nominated feature documentary Building the American Dream by Chelsea Hernandez, which premiered at SXSW in 2019 and was broadcast nationally on PBS. She edited the short documentary Status Pending by Priscilla González Sainz, which was supported by IF/Then Shorts and acquired by Al Jazeera. She edited the feature documentary Silent Beauty by Jasmin López, which premiered at the 2022 Hot Docs Film Festival. She holds an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. She is a former Flaherty Fellow (2013) and Felsman Fellow (2015).

Anne Quinney is Professor of French at The University of Mississippi where she teaches courses in contemporary French/Francophone literature and film. As a child she traveled to pre-Glasnost Russia and Armenia several times to make animated films with other child animators as part of a peace project that became the subject of a PBS documentary, Children Are The Future. Originally from New York City, she has resided in Oxford since 2000 and has attended and volunteered every year at the Oxford Film Festival since the first fest. She takes a group of undergraduate UM students every year for two weeks to the Cannes Film Festival. So far we're the only US delegation to have the "Cinéphiles" accreditation! She has also hosted the French film festival on campus, Les Voix de la Jeunesse, for the last two years.

Ned Yousef is an Ole Miss Theatre alum. While in college Ned was invited to attend a prestigious conference in London hosted by the British Academy of Dramatic Combat ( B.A.D.C). There, Ned quickly ascended to the advanced level, usually a 3-year effort, earning him the right to serve a 300 hour apprenticeship with a fightmaster for the certification and adjudication as a Director of Stage Combat.

After graduating Ole Miss, Ned moved to London where he performed for several venues including the Royal Opera Hall and live action shows at Madame Tussaud. Ned also taught stage combat at the American School of London, MountView Academy and Arts Educational Schools on behalf of B.A.C.D.

Since his return, Ned joined SAG-AFTRA and has appeared in over 100 Productions sharing the screen with film greats such as Woody Harrelson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Jackman, Sandra Oh and others. Most recently Ned worked opposite Giancarlo Esposito and Paula Malcomson in the upcoming AMC drama 'Parish'.

Ned is honored to be invited to the Oxford Film Festival and represent Ole Miss theatre, Hotty Toddy....!

"In the world of film, good actors can elevate crude backhanded slaps, stomach punches and knife fights to high art" - NY

Film Critic, Association President, Festival Director, Film Historian, Radio Host, Film Festival and Award Show Founder, Adjunct Professor, Executive Director, Brand Creator, and lover of ALL things film, Tim Gordon remains a cinema innovator.

Gordon has served as a programming consultant, panelist, and film festival jury member for several festivals and film series, including Morgan State University’s Arts Festival, Lincoln Theatre’s "Film Feast," Uptown Saturday Night Movie Ministry, Virgin Island International Film Festival, DC Black Film Fest, Over-The-Rhine International Film Festival and the Centre Film Fest.

Film Critic, Association President, Festival Director, Film Historian, Radio Host, Film Festival and Award Show Founder, Adjunct Professor, Executive Director, Brand Creator, and lover of ALL things film, Tim Gordon remains a cinema innovator.

Gordon has served as a programming consultant, panelist, and film festival jury member for several festivals and film series, including Morgan State University’s Arts Festival, Lincoln Theatre’s "Film Feast," Uptown Saturday Night Movie Ministry, Virgin Island International Film Festival, DC Black Film Fest, Over-The-Rhine International Film Festival and the Centre Film Fest.

Connor King is an actor, director, and stand up comedian who produces a variety of comedy events in the Oxford area. He is the writer and director of the 2019 Oxford Film Festival community film, Checked In. You can spot him performing around town at open mics and bimonthly improv shows.

Katie graduated from Bournemouth Media School with a degree in Scriptwriting for Film & TV and is also a graduate of the London Royal Court Young Writer’s and Invitation Only Groups. For 19 years and counting she has provided strategy and submissions support to filmmakers worldwide, resulting in creating the consultancy brand Festival Formula in 2014. As an active member of the Short Film Conference and the Film Festival Alliance, Katie is also a key spokesperson on festival issues with coverage in The Hollywood Reporter and Screen Daily regarding suspect and fraudulent film festivals. She co-created the Filmmaker Lounge in partnership with Film Festival Alliance – an online space for programmers and filmmakers to discuss their roles. Previous guests include: Tribeca, Slamdance, PÖFF Shorts, and many more. Previous speaking engagements include: HollyShorts, Heartland Film Festival, BFI Flare, Encounters Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, Sundance, SXSW and many more. Selected prior jury service includes: Cleveland International, Heartland International, St. Louis International, DC shorts.

Ritchie Montgomery, from Natchez Mississippi ,is a working professional actor with over 185 credits in Film and TV to his career. His first acting credit was a union soldier in a Movie of the week called FREDOM ROAD with Muhammad Ali and Kris Kristofferson in his home town of Natchez.

He has been directed by some of the most respected directors ,Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Antoine Fuqua, Barry Jenkins, Tony Scott and Ethan Hawke to name a few.

Acted with the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Denzel Washington, Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis, Ethan Hawke, and on goes the list.

Ritchie is proud of the work in OZARK,TRUE DETECTIVE (1st season),AMERICAN HORROR STORY,ONE MISSISSIPPI and P-VALLEY.

Watch for his upcoming projects, Richard Linklater’s HITMAN with Glenn Powell, TWISTED METAL with Anthony Mackie, Zelda Williams’s(Robin's daughter) LISA FRANKENSTEIN, THE GETBACK with Theo Rossi, DEVIL’S PEAK with Bud Thornton and two shot in MISSISSIPPI, FROM BLACK with Anna Camp and RUMBLE THROUGH THE DARK Based on THE FIGHTER from Oxford’s own Michael Farris Smith.

Ritchie’s passion still lies between “Action” AND “CUT” even to this day. His favorite movie is the next one.

Check out his IMDB or Instagram page

Williams' desire to tell unique and meaningful stories visually fuels his career as a visual storyteller. His latest scripts, "Rosemary" and "Out in the Open", reflect the personal and creative growth Williams has experienced since coming out, and these in-development projects are the beginning of a new era of cinematic expression for Williams' passion to share stories with the world.

Ian is a Film Festival Strategist at Festival Formula. He watches films that come into the company, providing impartial feedback on how they best fit into the worldwide film festival circuit. Drawing on his wisdom as the companies previous Submissions Coordinator, he has expert insight into the circuit and uses it to create bespoke festival strategies. Behind the scenes, he is the companies go-to nerd for technical help on anything from codecs to subtitles. Away from the desk, you will often find him at film festivals worldwide as an industry guest, sharing his expertise and giving honest advice. Previous speaking engagements include: HollyShorts, Heartland Film Festival, Encounters Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, Bolton International Film Festival, Norwich Film Festival, Manchester International Film Festival and many more. Selected prior jury service includes: DC shorts, Indy Shorts.